NYKnick101

Agreed. I don't think there is an issue with Honda paint since most car paint is made by if not the same company then a similar company using same chemicals. The issue is honda tends to be driven by people that drive their cars regularly or exposed to weather regularly. Whether its their daily driver OR they just park it on the street/outside driveway. People who tend to drive high end/more expensive cars tend to park them in a garage away from the elements OR don't drive them regularly.

I have an IS that is my DD I keep in an outside driveway, exposed to the weather and my hood and roof are beginning to fade just like all other cars under similar conditions. If you maintain the paint, it can be prolonged but it happens to any car, not really just honda

bagwell

I've noticed a lot of 07-08-09 Civics with this condition, most appear never to have been waxed or maintained....never seen it on an Si though (cuz they are maintained better?)

My friend recently traded in his 08 Civic coupe with 140K....got $1500 for it......paint was ok but he never maintained the car (apart from oil changes + the cracked block).

FishBike

The '03 Accord I just traded in a month ago didn't have any visible issues with the paint, and was parked in the sun most days. But it was also silver, which is probably a good colour for avoiding fade and making oxidation of the clearcoat hard to see. The surface still looked and felt pretty shiny to me, though. Maintenance routine consisted mainly of getting rained on from time to time, except in the winter when it would get snowed on instead.

84Cressida

All the people complaining about having a car with faded paint or a friend's sister or whatever all have the same thing in common: The car is typically older, near 10 years old or older. The fact of the matter than unless the paint start falling apart in 5 years or less, there is no "defect", just a lack of care.

UDel

Agree

I detail cars and have not noticed Honda's paint being any worse then other manufactures. It has a lot to do with how the car is maintained, what it is exposed to, and if it has a protective sealant/wax on it all the time. You keep a car outside all the time and don't wash it or wax it, you are going to have premature fading/clearcoat failure. My parents have owned Honda's and Acura's since the early 80's, never had any issue with paint, I had a mid 90's black Honda, no problems. Honda's are popular and last longer then many other cars and tend to be on the road much longer which may be why you are seeing more older Honda's showing signs of more paint damage then other models, you may just be seeing more older Honda's then other makes on the road.

Honda's and Toyota do have some of the softest clearcoats I have ever experienced, they are a big pain to keep swirl free but you don't have to be as aggressive when removing swirls. The makes I find to have the worst paint have been late 80's to 90's GM and Chrysler vehicles, really bad, my grandmother had a late 80's Bonneville that had really bad paint fade/clearcoat failure, it was terrible. The color I have noticed that is the worst for fading tends to be light reds, my ex gf had a older red civic that had some fading on the roof but she never washed/waxed it and kept it outside all the time.

You can pose the question about any car companies paint quality and you will get a ton of remarks how it has problems or how it is fine.

Modern paint because of newer environmental standards is often not as strong and more chip prone to older quality paint used in the past.

mmarshall

Clearcoat, of course, changed a lot of things. But, before it became standard, silver, particularly metallic silver with its tiny metal-flake particles, was one of the first colors to fade. That's because it if it wasn't religiously waxed, the small metallic particles in the paint would be exposed to oxygen in the air, with resulting oxidation and fade. That was also a problem with some shades of red, as the red pigment in the paint contained microscopic iron particles (the same reason why your red blood cells contain iron). Red had to also be kept waxed, or it would fade/oxidize.

mmarshall

It wasn't just Chrysler products, but a lot of Fords, Mazdas, and some other automakers as well. In the early 1990s, the EPA forced auto manufacturers to come up with new paint formulations and spray-methods in the plants to address the problem of paint fumes affecting the ozone layer. Some manufacturers, for several years, had problems getting the new formulas and processes correct, though, of course, they eventually did. But until they did, many vehicles they produced during that period ended up getting free repaints under warranty.

VtotheJ

iTrader: (2)

Well, I have a Milano Red integra that's turning pink in certain places haha. I also have very minor rust on the quarter panels, so I'm probably going to get the car painted to take care of the rust, before it gets worse. I don't ever plan to sell the car anyways. I'm going to take care of it better after the paint job.

darkdream

I wonder how many people who have paint issues even wax their cars even twice a year.

GSteg

iTrader: (15)

Could be a lot. Many wax will last only a couple of weeks or a few months at best (excluding sealants). Some wax will have more UV-inhibitors than others too so your typical $2 Turtle Wax may not offer the best protection.

gymratter

i think it has more to do with the color. my dad had a 88 sky blue Acura Legend. that thing still looks good to this day. my sister on the other hand had a 93 red Camry and a 99 dark green Solara. both of her cars have faded and started peeling.

speedflex

I had a dark green Maxima for 8 years and the paint never seemed to wear at all. I didn't especially pamper the finish... and we have brutal sun during our summers.

gymratter

idk, i guess its just different with everyone.

jwong77

There must be something about red paint that results in fading. Like I had said, my paint is shiny and but the color itself is fading. My clear coat seems to be doing just fine, but the layer of color underneath is turning pink on me.

Lil4X

Paint problems are everywhere, mostly caused by changing regulations related to environmental protection. We had a 92 Dodge minivan that had a good coat of paint, but the primer was like Teflon, nothing would stick to it, especially the color coat. After a few years, the color coat and the clearcoat began to peel off in sheets the size of your hand. Chrysler wasn't alone with this problem, there are plenty of cars from the early '90's you see on the road today with big splotches of peeled paint.

Through most of the '80's I worked for a large oilfield equipment manufacturer based in Orange, CA. We began getting complaints from around the world about our new products rusting within months - even days of delivery. We had changed to a water-base painting system in our factory, and while the paint looked good, some of our machinery was showing rust spots in the time it took to travel from Orange to Houston - about 3-4 days on a flatbed truck. To satisfy our customers, everyone of us with direct connections to users carried masking tape and a case or two of red spray paint in the back of our cars. Yeah, we were crawling all over our products in the field, giving them a respray.

It took years before some compromise was reached between the California Air Board and our unhappy customers. We even looked at shipping everything down to our plant in Mexicali - just so a decent coat of paint could applied. About the time we'd resolve our problems with multimillion-dollar spray booths and the latest paint chemistry, the Air Board would change the law and we'd start all over trying to find a paint formulation that would make everyone happy. It was an uphill battle that probably continues to this day.

I rather suspect that is what is happening on a lesser scale to automotive paint. When it is applied, the paint looks great, but only the passage of time will verify that the formulation works. That time may be weeks or several years. About the time they solve the problem, the authorities change the rules . . . .